August 27, 2009

Food and Wine Week

"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance." - Benjamin Franklin

This week has been a veritable feasting of food and wine. On Tuesday I was invited to a dinner party and was amazed by the sumptuous menu of Chipino, Chicken cooked in aniseed, Mediterranean vegetables and a steamed egg dish with anchovy. It was all very very tasty and the company and wine was also brilliant!

The following evening I went to UVA wine bar in the Lower Haight. It was buzzing last night not only because it is a popular place but also because they were having a natural wine tasting as part of Natural Wine Week. It was delicious! Many wines, (all Italian and natural) and great food to go with it – we ordered the Wild Boar Ragu and a Spicy Pepper Pizza.

One of the many things I love about San Francisco is the availability of good food and wine and the people that love to consume it.

7 more days until training begins again. (I may need to work twice as hard to make up for the feasting)

August 23, 2009

Il Hombre


Seen at Upper Playground on Fillmore Street

August 21, 2009

Life Has a Mind of it’s Own

I’ve been enjoying a Friday at home and I have just finished watching the film The Soloist, it is an intriguing story of a very talented cello player who’s mental health led to him become homeless. The film was an interesting insight to the effects of mental health but it also had a really good tale of what expectations we have of each other and what we learn when those expectations are not met.

There are always lessons to be learned in life and often they come from our perceptions being different to the reality. Our minds can tell us we are experiencing things when in fact our inner voices are speaking the truth. As long as we continue to grow from the lessons then nothing is lost.

Yesterday I had a cataract removed from my eye – I got the cataract after a series of surgeries my eye had undergone for a detached retina two years ago. This was a fairly simple surgery, in fact the most commonly performed surgery for over 65year old people...the hardest part was not eating all morning because although it was a simple procedure, it still required anesthesia. After the previous surgeries, this one being easy was a great relief.

Now that the procedure is over, the countdown to get back to boot camp and back into training begins – 13 days . . .

August 18, 2009

Love Birds

Seen on Fillmore Street.

The Universe Knows Best

Having faith in the Universe is an interesting concept. There are many references both in pagan and popular culture that reference this idea of “having faith in the Universe”. Max Ehrman wrote in Desiderata that “the universe is unfolding as it should” .

Of course there are many arguments that everything in life is choice and we create our own destiny and there is no such thing as a “Universe” that guides us, but sometimes I have to believe that the choices we are presented with are guided by “something” else.

What that is, I can’t say I have an answer to, but I would like to believe that everything is, and will be, as it should be. For some, our history determines our future, and we can choose to stay in a place we think we are destined to be, but I think we can make conscious choices to be taken in another direction and that is the power of choice. The rest, we have to trust.

Right now, everything in my life feels pretty good and I will continue to trust that everything is indeed unfolding as it should. All I can do is make the choices I think are correct and for the rest, I will trust the process.

August 14, 2009

What’s in a name...and how Epic is not epic at all...

Last night I went to a restaurant along the Embarcadero called Epic .

Epic. The dictionary definition of the word epic is: heroic; majestic; impressively great...the slang definition of Epic (compliments of urbandictionary) is described as ”Being unusually large, powerful or wonderful.” – That does not apply to this place; it is neither, large, nor powerful and certainly not impressively great.

This restaurant is in one of the most awesome settings overlooking the Bay Bridge. The view was stupendous, the company was great but the food was disappointingly mediocre.

This got me thinking about the name. The whole idea of calling a restaurant Epic sets the expectation of an awesome or ‘impressively great’ experience. Our food was neither. On the flip side, there is always the potential that in a few years time this venture will turn out to be an epic disaster when patrons do not return because the food is not so epic after all...the view, one can see for free just in front of the place.

Having just totally knocked this place, I do want to add that the ambiance inside held promise, it has a nice bar which looked like a cozy place to drink a whiskey on a gray day, but if anyone asked my opinion...I would rename the place, perhaps then one would take it at face value and enjoy it for what it is and not expect an epic experience.

On another note, it has been sunny here in San Francisco all week. This is a good thing; a sunny San Francisco puts a spring in my step and a smile on my face - now that IS epic.

Happy Friday!